Improvement in lamp-wicks



H. HALVORSUN. Lamp-Wick.

N0. l6l;029. axenredMarch23,|a75.

v Fig. v

TH E GRAPHIC C0. PHDTOrLITI'LSQ &4'| PARK PLAGE. N-Y.

i., NrrED STATES HALVOR HALVORSON, OF CAMBRIDGE, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLESALBERT SHAW, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 161,029,dated March 23, 1875; application led February 3, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HALvon HALvoRsoN, ofCambridge, in the county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Lamp Wicks, of whichthe following is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact toenable any person skilled in the art or science to Which my inventionappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification, in WhichFigure 1 is a side elevation, A representing the body of the wick.

My invention relates more especially to that class of wicks Which aredesigned for use in lamps adapted for burning kerosene or thehydrocarbon oils; and consists in a Wick comn posed of cotton or similarflbrous material, and oxidized or treated with an acid or gas, ashereinafter fully set forth and claimed, the object being to increaseits capillary action, and render it more easily eut or trimmed.

` It is Well known by all conversant with such matters that it isdifficult to cut the ordinary woven, knit, felted, or braided Wicks usedin .lamps for burning kerosene, in such a manner as to trim the lampevenly and properly, especially While the Wick is in the tube, and afterit becomes saturated With oil. It is also well known that When a Wick ofthis characteris Woven, knit, felted, or braided too closely, or Whenits strands contain too many short hirsute projections or loose bers, itwill mat or indurate, having its capillary action so much reduced as toinsufficiently supply the flame With oil.

My invention is designed to obviate these difficulties and objections;and to that end I subject the Wick to the action of acid or gas, oroxidize it by chemical action, rendering it more brittle or easily cutor trimmed than an ordinary Wick, and, by destroying the ne hirsuteprojections or loose fibers which clog up the ducts or pores, greatlyincrease its capillary properties, and prevent induration or hardening.

In carrying out my invention I take the ordinary knit, braided, woven,or felted lamp- `Wicks of commerce, and immerse them in a bath orsolution composed of one part of sulphuric acid and six parts of Water,letting them remain in the bath about three hours. I then remove themand allow them to partially dry, or the Water to evaporate, after Whichthey are immersed for about ten minutes in a solution or bath composedof one part of chlorate of potassa and ten parts of Water. After beingremoved from the potassa solution or neutralizing bath, the Wicks shouldthen be rinsed or Washed in pure Water until thoroughly cleansed.

The acid acts upon the substance of the Wick to soften or disintegrateit, rendering it pulpy and brittle. The chlorate of potassa 'neutralizesthe acid, the chlorate being decomposed, resulting in sulphate of potashand free chloric acid, and the chloric acid, coming into contact Withthe organic substance of the Wick, is itself decomposed, and the WickOxidized and rendered still more brittle.

Nearly the same effects may be produced by continuing the use ofthe acidbath a greater length of time, and neutralizing With a solution of anyof the soluble alkalies or their carbonates, soda being preferable onaccount of its low price and the extreme solubility of its sulphate. Orthe oxidation of the Wick may be effected by submitting the same to theaction of dry chlorine gas.

It Will be obvious to all conversant with such matters that in oxidizingthe Wick a great variety of means may be employed of the same generalnature, and with substantially the same results. I therefore do notconne myself to the special'method herein set forth, or to the formulagiven.

Patent of the United States, numbered 157,685, were granted to CharlesAlbert Shaw, as my assignee, for an improved lamp-wick, having some ofthe characteristics of the Wick produced by the foregoing process. Itherefore do not herein claim anything shown or described in saidLetters Patent, when in and of itself considered; but

What I claim is- As a new article of manufacture, a fibrous lamp-Wick,oxidized substantially as and for the purpose specified.

HALVOR HALVORSON.

Witnesses:

Guo. G. SHAW, H. E. MnrcALF.

on tue 15u11 dey ef Deeember, 1874, Letters l

